WEEK 4

Where Are the Robots Taking Us? Part 1

By Richard Adhikari

Why are we so fascinated with robots? Are robots the culmination of the vision of freeing humanity from drudge work? And what are the legal implications of using humanoid robots or even robot pets? It's a field that's expected to grow as the technology behind becomes more sophisticated, and as certain populations develop new sets of needs.

A short article on the topic of the continuing development of robotics, and the applications of their services.  In particular, the article mentions Japan, and its aging population, and the potential for home and health care robots.

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WEEK 3

When Google made the surprising announcement on Tuesday that it would no longer censor search results in China, it was applauded by human rights advocates around the world. Since China isn’t likely to allow unfiltered results, which would bring up banned topics, Google would have to quit operating google.cn, its Chinese search engine.
But that may not be the end of the story. The very tech savvy are starting to work around the government’s filters. Is it just a matter of time before the technologists defeat censorship broadly? What kinds of technological advances would that involve? Or will governments like China be able to maintain strong censorship control with ever more advanced technology on their side?

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An interesting topic, approached from many different perspectives by the authors.  It seems that the freedom created through the flow of information via the internet is coming up against the governmental doctrines of non-democratic nations.  Opinions differ on how well the "Great Firewall of China" will hold, and how easy it is to work around it.  People want access to the great amount of information available today, and will find a way to do it, legally or not.

WEEK 2

A new high tech prosthetic arm, designed by the man behind the Segway electric scooter, Dean Kamen, could have amputees back in action sooner than expected.

After our discussion in class on Monday, I was interested to hear some more about the high tech prosthetic arms being developed for amputees.

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WEEK 1

Eureka Fund, based in San Francisco, is one of a handful of new nonprofit organizations created to give the general public an opportunity to pay for scientific research that is not fully supported by government or private sources. They are part of a fledgling movement to take the idea of crowd-sourcing and crowd-financing, which has worked in arenas like small business and education, to scientific research.

Much like kiva.com, and other microloan organizations, Eureka Fund is seeking to create financial support for scientific research via public donation.

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